Reactive Programming Masterclass Laboratory 🚀

Welcome to the Reactive Programming Masterclass. This repository contains a series of hands-on laboratories designed to master asynchronous stream processing, non-blocking I/O, and reactive systems design.

🧠 Why this curriculum? (The Pedagogical Path)

The transition to Reactive Programming requires a significant mindset shift. We approach this in progressive levels using Java 21 and Project Reactor:

1. The Mindset: Foundational concepts and analogies to understand "Push" vs "Pull" in the JVM.
2. The Core: Mastering the Reactive Streams Specification, Backpressure, and Schedulers.
3. The Enterprise: Building microservices using Spring WebFlux and R2DBC.
4. The Scale: We introduce Kafka, Observability, and advanced Resilience patterns.
5. The Horizon: We compare Reactive with Virtual Threads (Project Loom) to understand the modern Java landscape.

🎯 Learning Path Overview

For a detailed breakdown of all modules, learning objectives, and the certification path, see the Full Syllabus.

• Level 1: The Reactive Mindset & Foundations (Project Reactor Foundations)
• Level 2: The JVM Reactive Core (Project Reactor, Backpressure, Threading)
• Level 3: Enterprise Reactive Services (Spring WebFlux, R2DBC, Security)
• Level 4: Resilient & Event-Driven Systems (Kafka, Micrometer, Resilience4j)
• Level 5: The New Frontier & Extras (Virtual Threads vs Reactive, Quarkus Mutiny)

Note: The curriculum includes progressive mini-projects and a final Capstone Project to consolidate knowledge.

🛠️ Prerequisites & Tech Stack

To successfully run these laboratories, you need the following environment:

• Java 21 (LTS): Required for Project Reactor, Spring WebFlux, and Virtual Threads.
• Maven 3.9+: For managing Java projects.
• Docker & Docker Compose: Essential for containerized infrastructure (Kafka, Databases).
• Make: (Optional but recommended) For using the centralized command shortcuts.

🚀 How to use this Laboratory

Each folder in labs/ is an independent module. Follow the instructions in the README.md of each lab.

Standard Commands

We provide a multi-module Maven structure. You can run commands from the root for all labs or focus on a specific one:

# Compile and install all labs
mvn clean install

# Run tests for a specific lab
mvn test -pl labs/006-reactive-streams

# Run tests for all labs
mvn test

We also provide a Makefile at the root as a shortcut for common tasks:

🤖 Agent Workflows

The laboratory uses specialized Agent Workflows to automate quality gates and implementation phases. These are invoked via / commands:

• /lab-master-plan: Covers the entire design phase (Init + Architect). Use this to generate spec.md, plan.md, and tasks.md.
• /lab-master-build: Covers the entire execution phase (Builder + Auditor). Use this to generate the code, tests, and documentation once the plan is approved.
• /lab-refiner: Retrospectively audits and upgrades an already delivered laboratory to ensure compliance with the latest standards.

Individual Workflows:

• /lab-init: Initiates a new lab and generates DRAFT artifacts.
• /lab-architect: Refines and validates planning (READY status).
• /lab-builder: Executes the technical implementation.
• /lab-auditor: Performs the final pedagogical gap audit (AUDITED status).

📜 Governance

The laboratory follows a strict set of engineering and pedagogical standards defined in the Constitution.

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Maintained by: MeloStudy Version: 0.2.0